My Weekend with the Wild Things

And I don’t mean my in-laws. 
But Matthew and I DID spend the weekend with his parents at their ranch, and while I was disappointed that there were no spring flowers yet and all plant life was still deader than dead, I managed to snap some fun pictures anyway. 
But first, for purposes of your amusement, I recorded several conversations that Matthew and I had on our long car ride on Friday.  There’s something about being stuck in a car together for long periods of time that seems to evoke some rather humorous intercourse.  And by intercourse, I mean conversation.  Don’t be gross.
***I apologize in advance for Matthew’s reference in conversation #3.  But I don’t apologize that it made me laugh so hard I cried.***

__________

Jenni (after passing some people flying kites in a field): Have you ever flown a kite?

Matthew: I have.  I had my very own kite when I was a kid.  And it wasn’t a cheap plastic one either.  It was FABRIC. It was blue, red, yellow, and green, and it had a tail.  A long, magnificent tail.

*Long pause*

Jenni: (disdainfully) Well, excuuse me.  Mine was plastic. 

__________

Jenni: I think I’m going to get a new swimsuit.

Matthew: Yes, a smaller one!

Jenni: No, a one piece.

Matthew: (look of horror)

Jenni: They’re back in, and very cute.

Matthew: Huh.

__________

Jenni: I really miss the bologna and cheese sandwich at Subway.

Matthew: They don’t have it anymore?

Jenni: Nope.  It used to be on the kid’s menu, but not anymore!

Matthew: It’s probably because people started realizing that bologna is ground up assholes.

__________

Sigh.  That man.  I love him though.

Here are some photos from the weekend.  And yes, that’s a real life armadillo.  I had no idea how cute they are, and now I want one of my very own.  Named Mo.  Mo the Armadillo.

And now I’ll be super sad when I see one smooshed on the road.  Poor, poor Mo.

Driving along in the “mule” (ranch vehicle), seein’ what we can see…

I could only imagine what was going through his head when I got this close to him.  Probably something like this: “omg omg omg omg omg omg I’m gonna die I’m gonna die I’m gonna die I’m gonna die…”

Then he just hid his little face in his little hole, and it was kind of precious.

Bambi.  Just chillin’.

This goofy guy’s head was covered in alfalfa.  And I didn’t want to mention anything, but his dangly parts are kind of enormous. Just sayin’.

THE END. :)

A Wild Weekend of Revelry (Except NOT)

I’m not gonna lie.  This post is a whole week late and actually covers TWO weekends ago — January 1st and 2nd.  But I think recent events excuse my tardiness, yes? 

As some of you may already know, Matthew’s family owns a ranch down here in Texas, and every now and then we like to go there for a little weekend getaway.  Now that I have my delicious new camera, I’m even MORE eager to visit there once the season changes and all of those glorious Texas wildflowers begin to show their lovely little faces.  It’s interesting how I’ve begun to see the world through a completely new set of eyes now that I’m getting into photography.  And I’m sure this blog will be all the better for it! 

Pictures tell a story.  You know what they say… “a picture is worth a thousand words!”

So I’ll let the following photos tell most of the stories, with just a few of my own interjections now and then.  ;) 

Clearly, the weekend was NOT a particularly wild or revelrous one (and according to spell check and my iPhone dictionary app, “revelrous” isn’t a word, but I’m declaring it one, starting NOW).  I tend to hang with a pretty low key crowd.  I’m not a big drinker.  In fact, one glass of wine or one martini has me begging for my bed.  So on New Year’s Eve, we all just sat around a fire and made s’mores and talked a little about New Year’s resolutions before heading to an early bedtime.  Thrilling, I know.  But at least I got some fun photos out of the weekend! 

 

Matthew’s cousin was wearing these amazing red Converse sneakers, so of course I HAD to photograph them.

And come to think of it, I should probably ask her permission before posting the following few pictures of her, but you know what?  Everyone in my life should just consider themselves “at risk” of making an appearance on my blog at any given time. 

This girl is 13, but doesn’t she totally have modeling potential?!  She’s tall and skinny, too. Check, and check.

 

The adorableness that is my mother-in-law!

And guys, I’m not trying to prove that I’m a badass with these next few pictures.  My husband just MADE me practice shooting these guns, for self-defense purposes and what not, so I figured I might as well be photographed while doing it.  For my blog.

And low and behold, a bee attacked me right in the midst of my rifle shooting lesson, and it’s CAUGHT ON CAMERA.

This next gun was scary.  I shot it for the first time, and then suddenly I had this hooooorrible ringing in my ear - and apparently I started flailing around with the loaded gun in my hand.  Next thing I knew, Matthew was screaming at me to put the gun down.

Sheesh.  Teaches him a lesson to make me shoot awful, scary guns that hurt my eardrums.

So that was my New Year’s weekend in a nutshell. 

Thank you all SO VERY MUCH for your continued support and prayers for my stepdad.  I feel so incredibly blessed to have such wonderful friends, even if most of us will only ever be Internet buddies. :) 

Have a great week!!!

Wonderful Whirlwind Weekend!!!!!

WHAT A WEEKEND!!!

I have SO MUCH to say that I literally don't even know where to start... so let's begin with the obvious! My bloggy got a makeover!!!

I've been trying to decide on a blog designer for a couple months now, but when I met Lauren from Life With A Lab and found out she just started up her very own graphic design studio, I knew I'd like to support her with my business! 

And I am so glad I did!!!  Lauren is SO very kind, patient, and professional, and she did an outstanding (and FAST!) job on my design; I couldn't recommend her services more highly. Since she's just starting out, Lauren is still offering blog designs for SUPER reasonable rates, and she will work with you 'til you're 100% happy. Check her out on her personal blog, and if you're in the market for a blog makeover, visit her at Blue Lux Studio! 

You may notice that there is now a tab for "poetry" up at the top of my blog.  Every now and then I'll be adding an original, written-by-moi piece, so if you're into that sort of thing, DO check it out!  I decided to include my poetry on this blog because 1) it is an art form, and should be shared, and 2) I don't write nearly enough of it. So maybe having that page there will encourage me to exercise that part of my creativity more.  We shall see!  For now I'll just put up some old pieces.

Also, I just jumped on the bandwagon and created a Twitter account!  Exciting times!!!  My user name is JenniDtweets - come and follow me!!!! 

Pretty please?

Now on to other news.  As I have mentioned here before, my birthday is very soon.  And as I have also mentioned here before, I have been "in the market" for a new camera for a while now.  And by "in the market" I mean that I've known which one I wanted for quite some time, and have been incessantly nagging Matthew dropping subtle hints to Matthew that a Canon Rebel XS would be the perrrrrfect birthday gift that would also be an investment in our future as we are able to more vividly capture moments for many years to come.  

And finally, all of the nagging dropping of subtle hints paid off.  Because Friday morning, as I stumbled out of bed and drudged drearily over to my coffee pot, I was suddenly jolted wide awake by the bless-ed sight of my beloved new Canon Rebel complete with an upgrade lens and just piled up by my coffeepot (still in their boxes, of course).  Y'all, I about died.  I screamed and jumped up and down and flung myself onto my husband with sheer delight and gratitude.  He had chosen to give it to me early because he knew I'd want to use it while my friends-I-hadn't-seen-in-ten-years were in town, and also over Thanksgiving.  And maybe because he was tired of the picture messages and emails and newspaper clippings and general begging that he had been inundated with over the prior weeks.  All minor details.  

Isn't she a beauty?

So here's what you have to look forward to in upcoming posts (with a possible short hiatus over Thanksgiving, when I'll be freezing my tush off in Wisconsin): lots of beautiful photographs (especially after I really learn how to work my new camera), a before and after tale of The Great Guest Room Renovation of 2010, part one of "The Romance" (our darling little love story), and who really knows what else?? You'll just have to wait and see!!

But allow me to leave you with a couple precious photos I took over the weekend.  HAPPY MONDAY!!!

Dear Diary: This Weekend Was Awesome!

I'm really not a huge fan of the weekend recap.  Usually they include a lot of "I did this and blah blah blah" and "I also did this and blah blah blah" and "oh, it was so cool when I did this and blah blah blah." 

You get the point, I'm sure.  Weekend recaps tend to be boring, diary-type entries that few people probably actually find interesting. 

I'd like to think that I am above posting a weekend recap, that my blog exists purely for the inspiration and enrichment of my readers; but sadly, that is not the case 100% of the time.  So feel free to skip this post.  Unless of course you're dying to know about my awesome weekend.  Which is doubtful. 

Let's get started. 

Dear Diary,

Friday was awesome!  I spent the whole afternoon with my mom

and Grandparents who are in town from Oregon.

 I thought it was super cool when my Grandpa whipped out a

magnifying glass to help him read the small print of the menu at lunch. 

We had pizza.

It was yummy.

Then later that night, Matthew and I stayed in and I made delicious pasta

and a spinach salad.  Also, we finally found a wine we both like.

  I slept well that night.

Dear Diary,

Saturday was uneventful until the evening, when Matthew and I decided

to go to Wurstfest in New Braunfels. 

It's a German festival they have there

every year, and I've always wanted to go.

So we drove the hour to get there, walked forever from our parking spot to the fair grounds, waited 20+ minutes in line for a ticket, and pretty much as soon as we walked into the park, I knew this was not my scene. 

The crowds and lines were unbelievable.  People were packed in like sardines, beer was sloshing everywhere, and lots of dirty strangers were touching me. 

I was very afraid for my brand new coat.

We got a bratwurst, I snapped a couple of pictures, and then I demanded to be taken home. 

I hate crowds, I hate drunk people, and I hate waiting in long lines. 

Here are the only two pictures I took:



Matthew was ordering Kettle Corn, which was not good.

 


Creepy, yes?



 On a lighter note, as we were leaving the fairgrounds, we watched as a 

stumbling drunk tripped over his own feet and did a face plant into the asphalt.

It was the highlight of my evening. 

Dear Diary,

Sunday evening we had my grandparents, my mom, and my step dad Edd

over for dinner.

All day I prepared for the event - cleaning and doing prep work for

the meal ahead of time.  It was important that this dinner go off without

a hitch because, otherwise, I would probably throw a self-deprecating

temper tantrum and cry myself to sleep once everyone left.

There were no tears, and everything went perfectly

except I forgot to put the thyme in the sauteed apples and also forgot to put the green onions on the mashed potatoes.

Curses!!!

Recipe here.  You MUST try this dish!  It's INCREDIBLE! 

Sorry so many of these pictures suck.  I hate putting crappy photographs up on my blog, but I currently have no choice as I am waiting til my birthday when I (hopefully) will be getting a new camera.  We shall see.

So there you have it: the Dear Diary style weekend recap.  I tried to make it somewhat interesting, but I'm still truly impressed if any of you actually made it this far (without some serious skimage).

Tune back in tomorrow for what MIGHT be a rather entertaining List of Ten Tuesday.  Or it might not be.  I haven't written it yet, so this is all speculation.  Don't forget to write your own list of ten for tomorrow, too!  Remember, there are no rules!!! ;)

Cheers!!

J